The device is particularly suitable for a killing trap in which bait is used, primarily for killing fur-bearing game, e.g., martin or mink; but it may also be dimensioned for all types of game, e.g., up to the size of lynx, depending on the proportions of the trap.
From the prior art there are known many types of hunting traps, all having in common the feature that the game animal is destroyed in a less than satisfactory manner, often involving considerable pain for the quarry. This causes problems and inefficiency in the practical hunting process. A number of difficulties are also associated with the freezing solid of the trigger mechanism and striking device when the weather changes from sleet, rain and thaw to frost and extreme cold. Another problem, perhaps equally serious for hunters in certain years, is that mice and lemming may eat up the bait before the intended game approaches the vicinity of the hunting trap. It is also difficult for the hunter to manage to fasten the bait at the correct distance from the striking device so that said device will strike in the right place and thus produce a prompt and effective execution without any notable pain for the animal.
With regard to liquid bait, it has been fruitless up to now to use this type of bait for anything other than a luring means.
There has for a long time been a desire among hunters to utilize a hunting trap that is equipped with bait, and which functions perfectly under all operating conditions, including when it is covered with snow or submerged in water. From U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,732 there is known a solution which utilizes a straight, striker spring arm having a short stroke length, and where the entrance opening to the trap is flat at the bottom. There is a danger with this type of solution that the animal will be pushed to the side of the opening before the arm locks the animal in the trap. With this known solution there is, in fact, a risk that the animal will be gradually strangled instead of being promptly put to death. This risk has been determined by trappers on the basis of their observation of the formation of foam around the animal's mouth, which would confirm that the animal evidently had been alive after the trap was sprung.